High Stakes
by bearclaw13
Summary: Getting pulled out of my life to fight for a cause I don't believe in sucks. The danger also sucks. Knowing I'm outgunned because I'm fighting for a cheapskate sucks even more. Love you too Anna. (Awakening SI/AU [universe follows general plot])
1. Chapter 1

Some people dream about video game characters. I've always been happy to say I'm not one of those people.

Tonight though, I was dreaming about Anna.

Now before you get the wrong idea she is fully clothed, I am too. That at the very least is reassuring. Fantasizing about a video game character I never bothered to use would be really weird.

Even weirder than dreaming about her at all is.

"This isn't a dream." Dang she read my mind, I guess someone in a dream would be able to do that because it's my mind? Never been a huge dreamer so I wouldn't know.

"Wouldn't you say that if this was a dream?" Going along with this would probably be my best option but making things difficult is something I excel at. Besides, I doubt a figment of my imagination would be surprised by me.

"Well if this was a dream and I was a figment of your imagination wouldn't your subconscious be telling you this wasn't a dream so you could experience the dream?"

"That made no sense." It appears that my imagination is even better at confusion tactics than me. I was trying to think of something else to say when she walked over and pinched my ear.

"There, if this was a dream you would've woken up." I rubbed my ear, my imagination sure could pinch. Ow.

"I'm pretty sure the pinch to wake up thing is fiction." I had no idea because, as I've already said, I don't dream much.

"You're horrible. What could I do to prove this isn't a dream?"

"Pretty sure anything could be put off as OH GOD WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT."

"That pain would wake you up if this was a dream. " she was giggling, clearly she thought this was a joke. I for one did not consider getting kicked in the balls a joke.

Or even remotely funny for that matter.

"I have no way to determine that." I groaned.

"Well how about you go along with this dream so we can actually make progress?"

"Sounds reasonable."

"Ok. Just to be sure, do you know who I am?" I nod. "Yes well, you are aware that one of my sisters is in charge of guarding the outrealm gate?" Nod again. "Well that sister and I made a bet about one of the outrealms."

"Hold up." I make a T with my hands. Aren't the outrealms like alternate realities or something?"

"Yes…?" She clearly doesn't get my point.

"Well doesn't that basically mean you're gambling with the lives and homes of living people?"

"Yes…?"

"Isn't that kind odf messed up? By kind of I mean incredibly."

"Ehh kind of I guess. Regardless that's not the point."

"Yeah it is. What did those people do to deserve your meddling? "

She looks surprised. Why the heck is it surprising to suggest what I'm suggesting? Does she not have morals?

Oh wait Annas were raised to love money above all else or something like that. I'm probably severely skewing FE lore but it explains her actions and makes sense so it's good enough for me.

"Nevermind, what's the bet?"

"She bet that she could outdo me in a contest." She looks at me at this point, obviously expecting me to ask what tge contest is.

No. I shall force her to continue without me asking. I shall prove that I am strong. "What's the contest?" Damnit.

"We decided to take an alternate Awakening universe and each take a side to work for in the awakening story. I chose the shepherds and she chose Grima. We're both going to make changes to the world in order to make things work for the side we chose."

What. They're literally gambling over a universe. How do they even do that? "How do manage that?"

"Paying off an Old Hubba."

Naturally. "So you're spending money on this? How do you know you won't exceed what you could gain from the bet?"

"That won't happen." Ok, either the bet is big or Old Hubba will manipulate events for cheap. I could believe either option. "Besides, it will be entertaining. "

This is so messed up. "So what does that have to do with me?"

"I'm sending you in to fight alongside the shepherds and help them." I am unsure whether I should be flattered by this or angry. I decide on neither.

"Because I know the way around the game's events?"

"I got the idea from that but my sister changed the realm considerably when she heard I was planning on bringing you over." Oh joy.

"So why would you need me here?"

"I'll change you so you're able to fight well and send you in. It's surprisingly cheap so don't be surprised if i send others like you. I'll also be equipping you well and giving you some money so you can survive."

I decide not to bother asking if I get a say in this. I clearly don't or she would've asked by now. "Oh, I'll also age you a bit so you won't be like Ricken and have to deal with people underestimating you because you're young." She really has this planned out.

"So your sister countered your move by getting rid of my greatest advantage. What else did she do?"

"Make the Grimleal smarter and the risen more numerous." That's… surprisingly smart. The Grimleal will likely be an even bigger problem if they can plan well like Robin… and do other… smart things.…

That thought fell apart. Whatever. "What did you do?"

"Send you in with buffs and make Chrom an even deadlier warrior."

"I thought you said sending me qas cheap."

"Yes but I want to make as much money as possible here. By cutting costs I'm lowering the risk to my fortune and raising the worth of my potential winnings."

So I'm working with a cheapskate when money is the way to win. Why couldn't she be on the other side. Her sister seems to be willing to make big spends over this bet.

Or maybe zombie making is cheap. I dunno. All I know is that it sounds like I'm screwed.

Hopefully this is a dream. Probably not though. Something about Anna makes me feel like this is real.

"So what buffs are you giving me?"

"Instinctive swordmaship and a good deal of knowledge about swordfighting,four years of aging, high quality equipment and twenty thousand gold."

"Twenty thousand! Just how big is this bet?"

Anna got a bit glassy eyed. Proof that it's a seriously large amount of money. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. Twenty thousand is just a lot of gold if I remember properly."

"That it is. It should last you a good while."

Maybe I'm not so screwed?

Nah I'm probably going to die.


	2. Chapter 2

Waking up in the branches of a tree has never been high on my to-do-list. It could be worse i guess, I could have woken up right next to Robin. That would've been hard to explain.

Anna probably wouldn't do that to me. It might hurt her chances of winning this thing. She might be a cheapskate but she's definitely competitive. She seemed that way at least.

There's also the possibility she doesn't care about the contest and was trying to trick me. Shouldn't rule that one out.

"Oh trust me I care a lot." I fall out of my perch and hit the ground painfully. Almost immediately I jump up and look around, I regret this as I'm sore from my crooked positioning for sleep and my muscles groan in protest from the quick movements.

"Where are you? I thoughtd you weren't coming to this world."

"Sheesh, pay attention to my voice and think about where you think it's coming from."

"My head?"

"Yeah, it was a cheap extra to be able to contact you."

"You're in my mind though. That's just so… so... I don't know what's a good word?"

"Useful."

"Not what I was thinking but good try. Do you have a reason for visiting me or is this a permanent ficture?"

"Reason, I wanted to walk you through your equipment. And I'll probably be visiting occasionally to make sure you have some idea of what you're doing."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, can we get on with the explanation now?"

"Sure, you've probably noticed the sword sheathed to your back." I actually hadn't noticed that but now that she mentions it I can feel the extra weight.

"It's strapped to your back instead of your hip because of my personal preference, I find the scabbard always gets in the way of my legs during a fight." I'm fairly certain she could just strap it to her leg instead of just her waist if that was actually a problem.

"Next we have various knives strapped to your body. You have one on your left forearm that if you flick your wrist will come out hilt-first so you can grab it easily. One each on your left thigh, chest and back. The chest one is dull but is long enough to block an axe or sword."

"What about when i fight a guy with a lance?"

"Don't get hit. Your satchel… wait where's your satchel?" I look around, it doesnt seem to be on the ground.

I find it in the tree that was my temporary bed last night. "Good, in there is a sharpening tool for your knives, a sword servicing kit and a set of lockpicks as well as a bag with twenty thousand gold and a stone that will activate the knowledge I gave you about your equipment."

"Activate it? Why's it necessary to activate it?"

"This way if you ever go home I can deactivate it. You'll find the Shepherds Stahl and Vaike fighting off a few bandits three hundred meters to the west in roughly four hours. I recommend you get there early so you can scout the town for the best place to help them from. Bye now."

And she's gone, that was surprisingly helpful, I'm well equipped and know where I'm going. I stand up and stretch before realizing I have no idea which way I west.

Time to think. I can somehow tell that north is to my right. I turn right, now to remember basic geography. When I'm facing north which way is west? Left.

I start walking west. I'll make the town easily in time to meet Stahl and Vaike. The problem now is coming up with a reasonable backstory.

I decide on Chon'sin. Walhart's conquest is a valid reason to flee and I should be able to easily deflect questions about my family and past. It's not perfect but it's better than claiming I'm a Ylissean (I wouldn't be able to prove this).

After deciding this I remember that I have to activate that stone in my satchel. I stop walking and open my bag looking through the contents until I find the stone. It's wrapped in a cloth, probably to prevent someone accidentally touching it.

The stone is far from glamorous, it's smooth and gray. Roughly the size of my palm. I drop it out of the cloth and pick it up.

"I may or may not have forgotten to mention that your brain would probably have trouble processing all the new knowledge at once." Oh hi Anna, having you in my mind is still creepy.

"Thanks Anna, nice to know you care."

"Think your answer instead of talking aloud."

"This is possibly the most cliche thing ever." I think rather loudly.

"Ouch, no need to scream, just focus on what you want me to hear and I'll hear it." She responds sounding ticked off, "do you want me to stop helping yout brain process the knowledge?"

"What are you helping with anyway."

"Helping your brain to take it in more gradually and understand it rather than just having it happen. I'm also helping with your headache."

"Have I ever told you how much I appreciate you?"

"No you haven't. That's it for the information. I recommend going over it in your head while you walk. Knowing something and understanding something are two very different things. " And she's gone again.

I return the stone to my bag and start walking west. I take Anna's advice and think over all the techniques I now know.

I reach the town after a medium sized walk and decide to go to the tavern to eat.

There's not much going on in the town. After I pay for breakfast there's not much to do so I start to wander the town. There's around two hours before Stahl and Vaike show up (I'm a slow eater okay?)

Wait… Anna told me that Vaike and Stahl would be here in two hours. She said nothing about the bandits.

Now I'm anxious. Great.

**Thanks to gunlord500 for reviewing!**


	3. Chapter 3

I don't know whether I should feel happy disappointed that the bandits haven't showed up yet.

Actually I'm pretty sure I should be happy, nevermind. All this waiting sure is boring though. All I've done for over an hour is buy a few vulneraries from the apothecary (I would've bought concoctions but it was a small place and didn't have any).

I was now back in the tavern talking with the owner. "So where did you come from? Visitors aren't rare here but there isn't much of a reason to come here either." The man asks.

"I'm from Chon'sin originally, fled the country after Walhart murdered my family. Now I'm here hoping the conqueror will be satisfied with Valm."

"I'm… sorry for your loss. No one deserves to lose his family. Especially not one as young as you." He seems genuinely sorry for me. "What's your name? If you're looking for a home I could give you room and board in exchange for helping me with the tavern."

"The name's Noah. And thanks for the offer but I'm a warrior at heart. I'll probably stay the night here and resume my travels tomorrow." I respond.

The man nods and seems to be about to respond when a group of kids run into the tavern in a panic. "What's going on?" He asks them.

"There are bandits in the town sir! We ran here because we didn't know where to go." One of them, a boy that's taller than the others, responds.

The man's face falls. "Bandits? We have no warriors to defend us… they'll burn down the town before anyone comes to save us."

"I just told you I'm a warrior." I smile at the man trying to looks reassuring. "I'll protect the town as best I can if you can try to find me backup."

"I hardly want you to risk your life for us lad. I can't in good conscience ask you to die for us."

"Good thing you aren't asking then." I respond, "And don't count me out so quickly. I might just surprise you." I get up and walk out the door.

There are four bandits running towards the tavern. I unsheathe my sword. "You don't want to fight us boy. Run away and leave and we won't kill you."

I respond by leaping towards them and beheading the one who said that, "I think I'll just kill you instead." I say as I step back to avoid the axe of one of the others.

I take a quick moment to survey the situation. I'm facing two axemen and a swordsman. They all appear to be holding their weapons improperly so they're probably untra-and that axe just nearly hit me.

Acting will probably be more effective than thinking in this circumstance. Probably.

Testing that theory out I thrust my sword through the chest of the Barbarian who just tried to kill me. I immediately pull it out and block a slash from the swordsman. I flick my left wrist, the knife plops right into my hand and I use the knife to shank the right arm of the Myrmidon. I kick him away and turn to my last opponent.

Just in time to have his blunt axe collide with my left shoulder. At least I avoided taking it right through my back by turning. The man seems a bit surprised I'm still alive falls victim to my sword before he can regain his balance.

He swung very hard. I'm unsure whether or not I should be happy the axe was blunt because I'm pretty sure my shoulder is pretty much shattered.

The myrmidon tries to run but I pull the knife on my chest out from under my shirt and and throw it. It hits its target and he now has a hole in the back of his head.

That was incredibly exhilarating. And painful. My shoulder is doing a good job of reminding me that it was not a complete victory.

I walk over to the myrmidon and pull my knife out of his head, wiping the blood and brain on his shirt before walking back to the tavern. I sheathe my sword and hold a knife in either hand. When I reach the door it's opened by one of the boys who has a shocked expression on his face.

The tavern owner quickly shoos away the kids and builds a splint for my shoulder, doing a surprisingly good job of setting it. "That should help. It's only broken in one place and the blow didn't break skin. Do you have any healing items?"

"My bag has some vulneraries."

He grabs my bag, which I had left onthe chair I was sitting on when I went to fight and pulls out a vulnerary that I had sitting on top of the items. He hands it to me, I take a swig of the pasty liquid and nearly spit it out because of the taste. That is some seriously bitter stuff. I feel an immediate change in my shoulder though.

"Thats stuff works fast." I comment as he takes off the splint. "Why did you need to set it though?"

"A healing staff will mend bones easily but a vulnerary has trouble doing so. Every little bit helps." He responds.

I nodvand strap the two knives back to my chest and arm, "I doubt that was all of them. I should be able to take the rest by surprise. None of those four got away."

The man nods and I leave the tavern.

The sound of combat quickly reaches my ears and I run to see what's happening. I find Stahl and Vaike fighting twelve bandits, four of the bandits already lay dead but the numbers disadvantage is making it hard for them to make any progress against their opponents.

I start chucking knives at the bandits. Five knives thrown. Four bandits downed. The bandits notice me and the leader yells at the rest "You all keep these ones occupied. I'll deal with this newcomer." He sprints over to me, wisely stopping five feet away. I quickly notice that he's holding his axe properly and he has a good stance. Probably an ex-soldier or a Feroxian who decided to make some money stealing from Ylisseans.

I unsheathe my sword, wishing I had kept one of my knives. We both stand looking at each other for a few moments, daring each other to attack. I end up starting things.

Charge, slash, wonder how the hell he blocked my strike with the handle of his axe, jump back to avoid counter.

I just jumped back 5 feet. How does that work? "Gravity isn't as strong here. Remember all the gravity defying stunts characters in Awakening pulled off? That's fully possible here."

"As much as I appreciate the trivia I." DODGE, "Don't need the." DODGE AGAIN, "distraction." Dodge a third time and respond with a slash to his right arm.

Hey, that actually hit. It wasn't at all a decisive blow, I was off balance and couldn't put much behind the swing. I quickly back up the slash with an overhead blow. He sidesteps the blow and slashes at my exposed ribcage. I dive away and turn my dive into a roll. I stand back up and move into a defensive stance.

He charges forward, hoping to push the advantage he doesn't actually have. I sidesteps his strike and quickly thrust at his chest. I connect, going right into his ribcage and probably piercing something vital. It doesn't matter whether or not that wound was mortal though. I follow it up by chopping off his head.

Stahl and Vaike appear to be doing well against the remaining bandits. Two-vs-seven is easy enough odds. Their part of the fight is over in the time it takes me too sheathe my sword and run over. Seeing it's over I gather my knives. By the time I'm done with that Stahl and Vaike have made their way over.

"Thanks for the help. That wasn't looking good for a while." Stahl says.

"No problem. I've always hated bandits. Glad to have the opportunity to save people from some." I respond.

"Yes quite. So what's your name stranger?" Vaike asks… since when is Vaike at all… formal? He always seemed the type to say 'yeah sure' for his marriage vows.

"My name is Noah, I'm from Chon'sin. Who might you two be."

"I'm Stahl, this is Vaike. We're Shepherds. What are you doing so far from home?"

"I fled my home after Walhart the Conqueror destroyed it."

"And you're trained well… Stahl we should have him join the Shepherds. If he's okay with it." Vaike is seriously creeping me out… Stahl seems oddly serious as well.

"I have no objection. We're undermanned these days." Stahl nods, "this is presuming you're willing." He says to me.

"Do either if you two have that kind of authority? I have nothing else worth doing so I'll join if you do."

"I'm deputy commander so I do have the authority, glad to have you with us."

And now I'm officially part of the Shepherds. I hope Anna is happy.


	4. Chapter 4

YuStahl, Vaike and I decided to eat lunch in the town before departing to Ylisstol and introducing me to the other Shepherds. I was unsure why Stahl was the Deputy Commander but I couldn't ask because it would require explanations I couldn't give. "So you said you're Shepherds. What exactly does that mean? And what did you mean when you said you were undermanned?"

"We're a small group of Ylissean soldiers who fight to protect our people from bandits. And there are only five of us, six with you, so 'very undermanned' would be a more accurate description of our group." Stahl responds. I'm nearly certain there were more than five original Shepherds in the game. This is odd, to say the least.

"Only five? I can see why you were so eager to take me on then." Hopefully I can figure out what happened to the other three by asking the right questions.

"Yep, just our commander, Chrom, his second-in-command, myself and Vaike, Lissa and Sully. There used to be eight of us but we lost three to a fight with bandits." Okay, so Frederick, Miriel and Sumia are all dead. How was that allowed for this bet?

Next I'm going to find out that Robin wasn't found by Chrom and Robin. "Don't worry about that. My sister was only able to do that because it didn't change the universe's path irrevocably." When suddenly. Anna.

"Isn't her end goal to change the universe irrevocably? Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again, this bet is really messed up." I decide to turn my attention back to Stahl and Vaike before they think I fell asleep or something.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Not much else to say to them. I'm vaguely aware of Anna telling me something about direct influence and indirect influence but I ignore her. If it's something important she can tell me later.

Stahl merely nods, clearly upset and Vaike appears to be crying.

Something is seriously wrong with Vaike. I have no idea what happened to him but he is nothing like the Vaike I remember from my numerous playthroughs of Awakening. Making Vaike not be a douche does not sound like something either Anna would do.

Or maybe my Anna did to help my sanity, I don't know. Probably some unintended side effect of the other Anna. Nullifying what I know about the universe is appearing to be successful so far.

We don't talk much for the rest of the meal and when the time comes to pay the tavern owner refused any payment saying that we've done enough for the town already.

Stahl leaves a few coins on the table anyway and we're on our way.

"Vaike why didn't you bring a horse?" I ask after a few minutes of walking.

"Don't need one. Walking is fine with me." He responds

"And he doesn't know how to ride." Stahl adds, grinning.

Vaike starts protesting a bit but I cut him off "I can't either. Never got around to learning. Glad to hear I'm not the only one."

Stahl sighs, "Why not? It's an important skill for an adventurer to have."

"Well not all adventurers have money for horses and I fall more into the refugee category anyway."

Stahl nods at my response, satisfied, then nods at Vaike, "His excuse is that he's afraid of heights and horseback riding apparently qualifies."

Vaike shivers "All that time not touching the ground... hey, wait a minute..."

The three of us continue laughing and joking for a while while we walk. The two of them are incredibly friendly. It's like we've all known each other for years despite just meeting.

The minutes slowly turn into hours and I resolve to learn how to ride. My feet hurt like crazy. I wish arch support existed in Ylisse, I'm more than a little flat footed.

The sun starts to go down and I wonder when we'll be stopping. I don't ask, asking for a break would be admitting that Vaike could walk longer. I can't let that happen.

Vaike is clearly thinking along the same lines since he's walking alongside me looking more determined than he did while fighting the bandits. We both continue walking for a while and Stahl notices that neither of us have asked to stop for the night.

"Wow Vaike, if I knew getting a new recruit would help your stamina I would've looked for one a long time ago. I think we should probably call it a night though, it's getting dark." He jumps off of his horse easily, "let's set up camp. I'll go get some firewood. You two set up the tents."

The 'tents' turn out to be personal tents that Vaike has trouble fitting inside. Vaike is like 6' 8" though so I fit easily (Stahl had an extra for whatever reason). Stahl comes back after about half an hour and sets up a fire to prepare the food he had in his saddlebags.

The food turns out well and we all eat happily for a while as the sun leaves entirely. "I'll take first shift." Stahl says. "Noah you're on second shift, a shift is three hours long. Vaike you get the last shift."

We both agree and go to the tents for some sleep.

**Author's note: Long time no update. I forgot about this for a while in the chaos of basketball season. This chapter is shorter than I wanted and is basically all filler but I felt like I should post something.**

**I've read all of the chapters so far posted and I've noticed a bunch of grammatical errors, sorry about that. Writing properly on a mobile device is hard ;/. Run on sentences is something I'm working on eliminating, other than that I'll do my best to catch any typos I make.**


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